This story has been updated.

Decatur, GA — The Decatur City Commission will meet on Monday, Sept. 25 for its regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a dinner session at 5:15 p.m. and a work session at 6:30 p.m. The meetings will be held in person at Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street, and virtually via Zoom.

The dinner session will also be a reception for the Japan Local Government Center. The work session will focus on updates from the fire department and swearing in new officers.

During the regular meeting, the city commission will consider approving recommendations from the planning commission for special exceptions for a proposed hotel and a rezoning application for a residential property.

To access the meeting, follow these instructions:

To view the agenda, click here.

This meeting will be held in-person. Members of the public wishing to participate during either the “Public Comment” or “Requests and Petitions” portions of the meeting may attend the meeting in one of two ways: 

1. Attend in-person by coming to Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough St.

2. Register in advance at https://zoom.us/j/94376818093. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. You may also participate by phone by calling (929) 205-6099 and entering the meeting ID (The 11-digit number shown in the Zoom registration link.)

NOTE – This meeting will utilize virtual meeting technology. We cannot guarantee it will operate as planned. If your participation must be a matter of public record, attend the meeting in person or email your comments to City Manager Andrea Arnold at [email protected] by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, September 25th.

Members of the public may also view the live broadcast of the Decatur City Commission meeting at https://www.decaturga.com/citycommission/page/streaming-video

Vision Hospitality Group has requested special exceptions for a 240-room hotel development to increase the building height to 82 feet and allow 100% of the parking to be off-site. The maximum building height allowed is 80 feet, and the developers plan to partner with nearby parking decks to provide parking to hotel patrons. The hotel is proposed to be located at 213 Swanton Way in Downtown Decatur.

The planning commission recommended approval with conditions. Decatur’s Downtown Development Authority supported the project.

The hotel will feature two different brands: Tempo and Homewood Suites, both owned by Hilton. The developers are seeking to have 100% of the parking off-site.

Additionally, the hotel will boast a rooftop restaurant with views called the Bluestone, an Australian restaurant chain. In working with city staff, it was agreed that the hotel would also have on-street parking, a six-foot landscape zone around the hotel, a four-foot bicycle lane, and a 10-foot sidewalk zone for pedestrians.

In other business:

– The city commission will consider a rezoning request for a residential property at 0 S. Candler Street and 538 S. Candler Street. The property owner is seeking to rezone from R-60 – Single Family Residential to R-50 – Single Family Residential and plans to replat the property as two lots that are 50 feet wide.

There is currently a single-family house at 538 S. Candler Street and 0 S. Candler Street is a vacant lot.

“The present Land Use designation of RL – Low Density Residential would remain unchanged,” the city staff reports says. “Each lot is a legal lot of record, however, 0 S. Candler Street is a non-conforming lot due to its substandard lot area and street frontage. If the rezoning is approved, a replat of the properties would result in two, approximately 50-ft. wide lots and each lot would be more than 12,000 sq. ft. in lot area.”

– Authorizing the Mayor and City Manager to execute the necessary documents to purchase 475 Landover Drive in the amount of $560,000 through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Program.

“The property purchase is one property comprised of two tax parcels totaling roughly 0.4 acre,” Deputy City Manager David Junger wrote in a memo. “The property contains one single family home which will be demolished. The property is located in the floodplain and is being acquired with a combination of funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (75%) and the city’s storm water utility fund (25%)”

The city commission approved the FEMA grant application in June 2019 and the property owners have executed a contract, Junger said in the memo.

“Acquisition of this property will afford the city the opportunity to expand public greenspace,” Junger said.

– Approving a right-of-way agreement with NR East Decatur Property Owner, LLC for the East Freeman Street extension. The extension is part of North Wood Ravin’s mixed-use development planned for 711-747 E. College Ave., 114-134 New Street, and 121 Sams Street.

– The city commission will consider amending the memorandum of understanding with the Decatur Downtown Development Authority for supplemental security and law enforcement services within the downtown business district.

– The city commission will vote on an amendment to the memorandum of understanding between the city and the Decatur Arts Alliance in support of the Sam’s Crossing Village art program.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the date of the city commission meeting. The story has been updated with the correct information.

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